GEORGE LITTLE
Born: c. 1856-1860 in London, England. Birth dates on documents vary throughout his life.
On his death certificate it is noted that he has been in NSW for 77 years meaning he immigrated when he was 7 or 8 years old.
George was a carpenter / joiner, as was his father James Little (b.?, d.?). The Little family arrived in Brisbane and lived there for many years.
George married Atlas Bolingbroke in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane on 22 August 1882. According to her birth certificate, Atlas was only 14 years old when she married George yet she claimed to be 16.
They lived initially in Queensland, where some of their children were born. Between 1885 and 1886 they moved to NSW.
George and Atlas had seven children:
– Herbert (sometimes ‘Herbert John’, or misnamed ‘John Herbert’, his birth is registered as ‘Herbert’), born 1883
– Ethel May, born 1884
– William Henry Thomas, born 1886
– Charlotte H., born 1887
– Contradina (known as ‘Dina’) Christina Atlas, born 1889
– George, born 1891
– Robert Hartley, born 1894 (Sue Perry’s great grandfather)
The marriage seemed to have been troubled, with George leaving Atlas and the children multiple times, returning and leaving again. There are no reports of him leaving after 1903, however Atlas may have stopped reporting his desertion – or, he may have not deserted the family after that time.
George’s death certificate notes that the couple had one male child deceased. Is this correct, or should this be one female child deceased i.e. Ethel May Little (1884-1885)? Or is there another unknown deceased male child?
George died: 28 April 1942 at 487 King Street, St Peters, NSW, aged 85 years. Buried in Rookwood Cemetery.
ATLAS LITTLE, NEE BOLINGBROKE
(Her name is sometimes misspelt, as ‘Atlis’)
Born: January-March 1867
Worthing, Hampshire, England
Died: 14 October 1925. Alexandria, Sydney.
Buried in Rookwood Cemetery.
The Bolingbroke family lived at Stanwell, Middlesex
Atlas’s parents were William Henry and Charlotte Bolingbroke.
WILLIAM HENRY BOLINGBROKE
(b.1831, d.1880) was born in Hastings, England. William took his family, including 5 year old daughter, Atlas / Agnes Bolingbroke (b.1868, d.1925) to Australia as assisted immigrants in 1873 on the ship, Great Queensland. Arrived in Queensland 2 September 1873.
Atlas travelled with her father William (42), mother Charlotte (37), sisters Alma (9), Ada (7), Martha (4) and brother William (1). Sadly baby William died on the voyage.
Sometime between 1873 and 1880 William senior returned to England and he died in Hastings in 1880.
William’s wife, CHARLOTTE CATTERMOLE (b.?, d.1905) remained in Brisbane. It is uncertain whether she re-married but in the 1903 electoral roll, she is listed as living with James Moulder.
ROBERT HARTLEY LITTLE
(b. 1894, d. 1959) was born in Alexandria and died in St Peters. He worked as a book (or boot) maker. He married HILMA JOSEPHINE JOHNSON (b. 1893, d. 1977) in Redfern in 1911 – she was 17 at the time.
It appears that Robert was under the legal age of marriage for a male (18) when he married Hilma. Though he claimed to be 18 on his marriage certificate, his birth certificate shows he was also only 17. It also seems that they had a daughter, Alma around 1910, out of wedlock.
HILMA JOSEPHINE JOHNSON, born JOSEPHINE HILMA
JOHNSON
(Her name is often misspelt, as ‘Helma’)
Born: 1893 in Enmore
Mother: Hilma Josephine Johnson
Father: (possibly) Thomas Jones – or unknown
Married: 1911 to Robert Hartley Little.
Died: 1977 in Sans Souci. Cremated at Rookwood cemetery.
Robert and Hilma had five children:
– Atlas Alma Josephine Little. Born 1911. Married in July 1928 to Lesley James Johnson. Died: April 1983.
Hilma may have been pregnant with Atlas at the time of her marriage.
– George. Born 1913. Died 1975.
– Robert Hartley Little (junior). (Sue Perry’s grandfather). Born 1916. Married in 1939 to Kathleen Alice Lumtin. Died 1982.
– John Herbert Francis Little. Born 1919. Married in 1938 to Joyce Dorothy Cook. Died 2007.
– Ethel May Lily Little. Born 1924. Married in 1952 to Oswald Norman Hubbard. Died 2002.
Hilma Josephine Johnson may have been illegitimate. On her birth certificate, her mother is listed as Hilma Johnson (b. 1875, d. 1944) but her father’s name is not shown.
According to family recollections, Hilma Josephine worked at the Australia Hotel in central Sydney as a barmaid and was still alive when Robert died in 1959. They also recall that she was also known as Rose. She lived around Erskineville.
HILMA JOSEPHINE JOHNSON (“Hilma Senior”)
Born: 1875 or 1876
Where? I’ve searched NSW births 1870-1880 with various spellings of her name
but can’t find a birth for her.
At her death in 1944 it states she was born in Sydney.
Hilma married Thomas Jones (1862-1935) in 1927.
She becomes known after this date as Hilma Josephine Jones.
From 1927 (maybe earlier) to 1935, Hilma and Thomas Jones are living at 8 Flora Street, Erskineville. The little cottage is still there in original condition. They are living there as a de facto, then a married, couple. (They were married at home, which was unusual at the time, with her sister and brother-in-law as witnesses.).
Thomas Jones died at the home in May 1935.
Thomas is Welsh. His parents are Robert and Marion Jones.
Hilma died in 1944 as Hilma Josephine Jones and is buried in Rookwood cemetery in an unmarked grave.
[To be investigated – info from earlier version of website, 2006] Hilma Johnson’s father was Nils Johanson (b.?, d.1904), the son of Hans Johanson. Investigations continue into how Nils arrived in Australia but it may have been as an assisted immigrant aged 30 on the Eugenie, which arrived in Queensland in Oct, 1873.
Her parents were Neils and Josephine Johnson.